Saleh Khana
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Saleh Khana is a large village in the Nowshera District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is inhabited only by Pashtuns of the Khattak tribe and a few of them from the Afridi tribe.
The village lies just below the hill station of Cherat and neighbour another village, Kotli Kalan, which is usually referred to as "Shangreh". Both villages used to be a single village until there was a bloody dispute. The dispute was taken up by a local grand jirga (Pashtun meeting) and eventually the villages split into two in order to keep the peace and prevent further bloodshed.
The name Saleh Khana derives from Arabic meaning "home of the good". The village is known for their slogan "The few the proud", as well as its markets and unique dusky green mountainous scenery.
Saleh Khana is the main village that makes up the Oriya Khel tribe, the other five villages are: Kotli Kalan(Shangreh), Bakhteh, Sappere(Chapri), Kotleh and Shokut. When travelling outside the tribe the inhabitants from the other surrounding villages refer to themselves as being from Saleh Khana due to it being so well known.
People & History[]
Pashtuns of this village have migrated from their homeland in the Tirah valley in Afghanistan to their current village during the mid 17th century.
After brutal tribal wars in the 17th century the Oriya Khel tribe migrated east and settled in Jalozai in Khattak tribe territories. Great hostility from surrounding clans lead to a major blood feud between the Oriya Khel and Khattak clans
The feud was so big that a Loy Jirga (Pashtun grand council) took place in order to end the bloodshed, this jirga was carried out by the great leader and pashtun warrior poet, Khushal Khan Khattak. The details of this can be found in the books written by Khushal Khan Khattak. As a result of this jirga to end the tribal feuds, the Oriya Khel were given the current lands that they now reside in today, hence they moved up into and inhabited the mountainous region of Cherat.
People of Saleh Khana are Muslims and are firm followers of Islam, they also live by and adhere to an ancient code of conduct which contains Honour, Pride, Bravery, Protection of Women, revenge, hospitality called Pashtunwali. The Pashtunwali is followed by all Pashtuns as a code of conduct and how they carry themselves.
Today many of the inhabitants of Saleh Khana have migrated to countries around the world, primarily the United Kingdom, during the 19th century in order to seek work and send money home to the village.
However, as time has gone by a lot of families have decided to stay and reside in these countries and now view themselves with a duel identity. However Pashto and Pashtunwali always takes precedence over all other identities.
Language[]
The Pashto dialect here is normally a mixture of both Kha/Sha pashto with similarity to the Peshawar and Wardaki Pashto accent spoken in Pakhtunkhwa on the Afghan and Pakistani side. However it is unique in its own terms.
Tribes and Clans[]
Saleh Khana is inhabited by the khattack tribe of the Pashtuns. The tribe is then divided into clans (khels), these are:
- Amin Khel
- Amirjan Khel
- Durran Khel
- Gunh Khel
- Mias Khel
- Moond Khel
- Qurban Khel
Each clan has its own mullah/leader which is their village clans representative in a Pashtun council called the jirga, to settle village disputes and progress. The Gunh Khel clan is made up of the Malak/Malakanan (the Chiefs) of Saleh Khana and thus all village decisions are made through them. Some of the notable Malakanan were: Malak Bahadar, Malak Kajeer, Malak Sher Zada, Malak Akbar Zada.
Every clan has its own Mohallah and every Mohalla has its own Masjid and own representatives for a tribal/clan meeting which is called a Jirga in Pashto.[1]
References[]
- ^ "Definition of jirga". Mariam webster.
- Populated places in Nowshera District